Fate: what a lame word
by loofahlover
Summary: "When Law is 5, his mother reads a story to him and his sister, as his father watches them with fondness. It's about how everyone in the world has their own soulmate, someone dear who will complete their lives. When their soulmate is born, their world becomes filled with colors. When their soulmate dies, their world returns to black and white." LawLu. Semi-AU.
1. Law

**Note: This fic is based on the Color Soulmates AU on flaggermousse's tumblr. Though I did change the rules a bit… ok more like a lot. Contains lots of angst, fluff, and Trafalgar Law being a tsundere love idiot.**

When Law is 5, his mother reads a story to him and his sister, as his father watches them with fondness. It's about how everyone in the world has their own soulmate, someone dear who will complete their lives. When their soulmate is born, their world becomes filled with colors. When their soulmate dies, their world returns to black and white. He questions the scientific basis of this phenomenon. His father becomes flustered, while his mother simply laughs.

* * *

When Law is 7, his world comes to life. He stares out into the sky, realizing what blue finally means, distracted from his father telling him about cardiac stents. When he excitedly tells his parents what he sees, his father says something about him robbing cradles in the future, and his mother punches his father on the head.

* * *

When Law is 10, he thinks back. He remembers the red blood on the streets. He remembers the bright colors of the fire in the hospital. He looks at the white patches against his tan skin.

He wishes his soulmate would die.

* * *

When Law is 24, he meets Strawhat Luffy in the auction house. What a crazy bastard. The thought just makes him grin wider.

In the ensuing fight, he toys with the Marines, attaching heads and limbs to various other objects. He doesn't really care what ends up where. His eyes keep drifting to the ever-shifting Strawhat. First, his arm is the size of a giant, then he shrinks into a small child. Just how does he do it? Unlike Eustass's powers, which are clearly magnetic or metalloid in nature, the implications of the gomu gomu fruit are not obvious at first glance, which makes it all the more fascinating. As Strawhat turns away from him, preparing to run from the marines, he wonders how many years younger that pirate is.

He wonders if the answer is seven. Impossible, he smirks, heading in the opposite direction.

* * *

The next time he meets Strawhat, the young pirate is lying on his operating table, and Law can't believe that he's still alive. He remarks to his assistants that this will be a fun surgery, yet he wonders why he's feeling so nervous all of a sudden. Perhaps it's the adrenaline of escaping the greatest battle in history that's getting to him. That's what he tells himself, anyway.

As he assesses the extent of the enormous burn on the battered body, Strawhat goes into cardiac arrest, and his world sinks into monochrome. His gloved hand freezes, hovering above that gaping wound.

"Captain?" Bepo asks.

The logical side, the practiced physician, rushes into action, calling for a syringe of this and to prepare for that and to get the paddles. The motions are distracting, but they do nothing to drown out the screaming in his head.

After the surgery, his color vision has returned. He sits by Strawhat's side; head bowed, hands crushing his hat. Great, fucking great, he's finally found his soulmate.

He wants to kiss him.

He wants to scream at him for his stupidity.

He wants to wipe the unconscious tears off that blood-streaked face.

He want to cry.

* * *

Law is 26 when he confronts Vice-Admiral Smoker, laughing at the thought of the Strawhats being in Punk Hazard. Only to have his words thrown in his face when said Strawhats burst through the door...then promptly retreat into the lab. He supposes he should be embarassed in front of the marines, angry at the pirates for trespassing and for ruining his moment. He doesn't register anything else except: _he's here_.

And suddenly he really is there. Luffy is waving in his direction. He looks good. What a relief. It takes all his self control not to throw himself onto the young boy- Man? It's hard to tell, he looks so young, with those yellow earmuffs, and that red-striped coat that makes his thin body look like a candy cane. Law wants to rip that coat apart to see whether the scar has festered and become infected, because who knows what Luffy's been doing to himself these past few years, but he's smiling and laughing like Law's never seen before.

"Mugiwara-ya..."

* * *

Law finds himself leaning against the mast of the Thousand Sunny, watching a full-blown party on the deck. Hadn't they just had one at Punk Hazard? For the thousandth time, he wonders how badly this alliance will blow up in his face. Suddenly, someone flops to his left, and he finds himself sitting next to Roronoa Zoro.

"Thanks for taking care of our Captain back in Marineford," Zoro-ya says, gulping down a bottle of beer.

"I didn't do it for thanks. It was just a whim."

"Heh. Is that so."

Law feels like the swordsman is mocking him, and his eyes narrow. That really was his intention at the time. What happened after...was fate. Ugh, what a lame word.

"So how bad was it?"

"What?"

"His injuries. Luffy never half-asses a fight."

"Some of the worst I've seen. Honestly, even now I can't believe he's still alive. At one point, he went into cardiac arrest."

"The hell does that mean?"

Law sighs. He wishes he were having this conversation with the doctor of the crew. "It means his heart stopped beating."

"So...technically he was dead?"

Law is surprised the greenheaded idiot could make that connection. "For a short while, yes."

"I see…" There's an expression on his face: heavy, furious, regretful, yet holding a bit of relief. Then he turns his head abruptly to lock gazes with Law. "Are you his soulmate?"

Law is glad he doesn't have a drink. He would have spewed it into the man's face. He tries to collect himself.

"So that's how it is," Zoro-ya smirks, turning back to his drink.

"I never said it was."

"You didn't deny it. That's good enough for me."

"Then I-"

"Too late."

Law wants chop him up into little pieces.

"It was pretty obvious. I just wanted to make sure, is all."

"...What do you mean it's obvious?"

Zoro-ya glances at him with his eye. "You have this...smirk. Well, more like a shit-eating grin. I saw it on Sabaody, then I saw the cocky way you dealt with Smoker and Caesar. But you don't smirk like that around us. Especially not Luffy."

"That doesn't mean anything."

"It means he gets to you." Zoro-ya says, snorting. "Don't worry, he gets to us too. For all that he acts like an idiot, it's hard to hold pretenses against him. Or secrets. He has a way of dragging them out into the open."

"And you think I'm that weak-minded, to let him do so."

"I wouldn't say weak. But I've seen you. You can't bluff around him. You can't control him. You don't lie to him. You get pissed off, and you can't control your emotions. It's like I'm watching a fucking teenage girl."

"I would suggest you shut your mouth before I do something I regret, Zoro-ya." Law is itching for his sword, ignoring the red tinge on his face.

"Chill man, I'm not gonna hurt one of Luffy's friends."

"...I told the damn idiot we were in an alliance!"

"Same thing to him. Don't worry, I wasn't trying to interrogate you. I was just trying to give you advice."

"What advice?"

"Give it up. He gets to you. It's inevitable. He gets to us, too. That's why we stick with him. He has an annoying habit of getting under your skin, and before you know it, you're his for life. It'll save you some sleepless nights if you figure that out already." Zoro overturns his bottle and stands up unsteadily, shouting, "Oi, cook! More beer!"

Law sorts through the turmoil in his head as a fight between the swordsman and chef rage in the background. He wants to deny everything the man said.

Instead, he snorts. Zoro-ya's advice is well-meaning but worthless. It's already too late.

* * *

The time has come to depart. Doflamingo's been taken down, Big Mam and Kaidou have been dethroned, and Law is fighting the urge to clutch his neck, to check that it's still attached.

"Looks like we're parting ways here, Torao." Luffy is grinning, standing on the deck of Law's submarine. Honestly, he's surprised Luffy isn't making a bigger deal about it. He expected some crying, whining, tugging at his coat, or proclamations that they were friends for life.

Not that he's disappointed. Pah. He tells the ache in his heart to shut up.

He's brought out of his thoughts by Luffy, who's suddenly hugging him. It's not a collision of limbs like he's used to, squeezing his ribs to death. No, it's a gentle embrace, and suddenly he feels vulnerable.

"See you, Law." He hears that quiet voice. He can't breathe.

And suddenly the moment is over. Luffy's back on the railing, shouting, "But I'm the one who's going to find One Piece!"

"Not if I have anything to do about it, Mugiwara-ya." Law sets a smirk on on his face, but it must not be very convincing, by the knowing grin on Luffy's face. Luffy launches a rubbery limb across to the Thousand Sunny and flies off. Law waits until Luffy's safely with his nakama, shouting loudly about their next destination to the sound of raucous agreement, before he lets the words escape his lips.

"See you, Luffy."


	2. Extra: Zoro

**Note: here's an extra from Zoro's POV. Only it's about as long as the real story...ah well. In which Roronoa Zoro is a devoted first mate, and an emotional, poetic idiot.**

Zoro wakes up one morning to a world of gray. He puts two and two together, and realizes that his soulmate, whoever or wherever they are, has just died. He didn't think he'd care about someone he'd never met, what with kendo as his only obsession, so he's surprised by the feeling in his chest that something's gone horribly wrong. He runs toward the dojo, ready to spar against Kuina, because he feels like that will get rid of the anxiety. But once he's there, Koshiro is grasping his shoulders with red-rimmed eyes, and talking about accidents and stairs...

And everything falls apart.

* * *

Zoro quickly realizes that he hasn't exactly lost sight of colors; not all of them, at least. For some reason, he can still make out the color red. It's a comforting color on his blade in the wake of cutting down an enemy, and it's handy for making out any injuries on his body. Most likely, he would have long ago died from blood loss, had he never noticed them.

He does wonder, though. Why can he still see red? Is it the promise with Kuina that somehow binds them together? The thought makes his heart twinge, so he walks more quickly. He won't become the World's Greatest Swordsman by standing around, getting lost in the past.

* * *

Zoro sees the boy, and wonders if it's an illusion. The boy has on a red vest, bright as a raging fire. He's wearing a straw hat, lined by a red ribbon. There's a boy with a bowl-cut next to him, yelling and gesticulating wildly. But the hat-wearing boy doesn't care. He's just staring at Zoro intensely, to the point that Zoro almost wants to turn away. Must be the exhaustion getting to him. So he tries chasing the boy away instead.

* * *

A few days later, he finds himself stretching against the side of a little dinghy. He and his new Captain have talked about anything and everything. Their dreams, their fighting styles, their favorite foods (Luffy) and drinks (Zoro). That straw hat. That white sword. Zoro's throat actually becomes hoarse; he hasn't talked this much in so long. Soon they're running out of things to say. And it's not a bad feeling. It's like they know enough about each other to last the rest of their lives.

"Do you see colors?" Zoro asks, eyes following a seagull.

"Yeah, since I was born. I've always wondered who my soulmate is. I bet they're a pirate too!"

"Heh, I wouldn't count on in it."

"Boo, you're no fun. Though I guess it doesn't matter. I'm going to be Pirate King. I don't have time for that stuff."

Zoro swallows heavily. "Got that right. But who knows. Maybe you'll end up recruiting your soulmate."

"Really? That would be awesome!"

"...Or maybe, your soulmate will be up being your enemy. They might even be a marine."

Luffy makes a grossed out face and slouches against the boat. A few moments pass in silence, then: "That's fine."

"Really?"

"Yeah. It doesn't matter who they are. Marine, pirate, whatever. Even if they're my enemy, they won't be, not really."

"That's pretty generous of you," Zoro says, though he feels like his Captain just said something rather astute. Maybe that's why he suddenly had the impulse to ask: "Why a red shirt?"

Luffy being Luffy doesn't question the random topic. "Because that's what Captains wear!"

It makes perfect sense to Zoro. And there's this feeling of a gear clicking into place, like something after Kuina's death has finally returned. He scratches off his previous theory about the color red, glancing at the white sheath of Wado in his hands, and makes a decision.

White is the color of the promise to his rival.

Red is the color of the promise to his Captain.

* * *

Zoro doesn't trust Robin at first. He changes his opinions to some extent after Skypiea. But it isn't until they leave Water 7 that he feels comfortable enough to discuss the issue with her. It's not that he has an issue with the color red. Far from it. But even if he accepts it, he still has to wonder if there's a more logical explanation than his own self-imposed one.

Predictably, he finds her in the library. "Robin."

"Yes...Zoro?" She hesitates, still reveling in the wonder of referring to her nakama by name.

Which makes Zoro feel even more awkward. He crosses his arms. "Got a question for you."

"What is it?"

"Have you...ever read about people who only can only see one color?"

"Not to my knowledge. Why?"

"Damn...It's like that for me."

She gapes. "Fascinating. Have you tried asking Chopper?"

"He doesn't know. It's never been documented before."

"I see. Has it been this way your entire life?"

"No. I lost my other colors when I was young."

"Why would-"

Thankfully, Robin must have noticed a change in his expression, because she decides to change the subject.

"Which color, if I may ask?"

"Red."

"Red? Interesting. I would assume you have many encounters with the color on the battlefield."

"Don't we all."

"Fufu. Still, I wonder why it's red, of all colors."

Shouldn't I be the one asking you that, Zoro wants to say. But he shakes his head, smiling. It seems that he's had the answer all along. "It's Luffy's color."

"Luffy?"

"Yeah." He walks toward the window of the observatory, watching his Captain run around the deck with Usopp and Chopper. He hasn't been wearing red shirts lately, so Zoro can't tell what he has on. But the red ribbon on his hat is unmistakable.

"Fufu, I see," Robin stands beside Zoro. "That red ribbon; it's a bit like a crown on his head, isn't it?"

Yeah, Zoro silently agrees, staring hard at the straw hat bouncing against Luffy's head.

A crown fit for a king.

* * *

Zoro steps backward to avoid a humandrill attack, when he suddenly notices that he can't see the blood on his opponents. His strength, already spent by his multiple battles in the past 24 hours, finally leaves him. He falls to his knees. The humandrills almost get to him, but he's saved by Perona. The monkeys are muttering something in monkey-speak, curled up in a fetal position on the ground.

But he doesn't care. He stabs himself in the thigh and watches something black ooze out from the wound. He bends forward, his head touching the ground, and screams until his consciousness fades.

_(Not again.)_

The next time he wakes up, he's lying with his back on the ground, with the ghost girl screaming in his face. He looks at his hands. They're bandaged, with red -_thank God_\- blood soaking through.

He wonders if that moment of color blindness was a mistake; some kind of hallucination, or a conscious nightmare. He doesn't fucking care. He jerkily raises a sore arm to cover his eyes, laughing through his tears. He doesn't know how long he does that, but when he opens his eyes again, Perona is looking at him like he's gone crazy. He slowly gets up, using his swords as a crutch, and heads toward the direction of the humandrills.

* * *

Zoro sits back against the side of the deck, watching the Thousand Sunny sink into the depths of the ocean. He lets the chatter wash past him like a calm breeze. They're talking rapidly, making up for two years' worth of loneliness. How they trained. What they saw. Who they met. Somehow, the conversation drifts onto the topic of clothing.

"Looks like the shitty marimo's wearing dresses now."

"Talk like that, and I'll stuff YOU into a dress, you pansy!"

"I'LL KILL YOU!"

They're at each other's throats, but the tension is quickly diffused by the sound of Luffy's laughter. Zoro sheaths his sword, a grin tugging at his mouth. It's been two years since he's heard it, after all.

"That's a really cool sash, Zoro!" Chopper chirps.

"Ah. thanks."

"You're totally matching Luffy-bro. What made you guys decide on wearing them?"

Luffy smiles. "I didn't. The girls on Amazon Lily gave these clothes to me." His grin doesn't leave even as Sanji starts to mock-strangle him. Meanwhile, Zoro grasps the red sash.

* * *

"_Here." Mihawk tosses a pile of clothing onto his bed._

"_The hell is this?"_

"_Clothes. Perona picked them up on a nearby island."_

"_I have clothes." Zoro states the obvious._

"_You have rags. They will fall apart any day now."_

_Not like being naked will stop me, Zoro wants to say, but he starts picking through the clothes. His hands stop upon a red sash. _

"_Ah yes, you can see the color red, can't you?"_

"_...How could you tell?"_

"_You have a certain habit. The greater the enemy is bleeding, the better you fight. It's a weakness you can't allow."_

"_Hmph. I know."_

"_I must admit it surprised me. I've never met a person who could only see one color."_

"_I get that a lot." Zoro takes the sash, then experimentally ties it around his waist._

"_Why?" Mihawk asks._

_Zoro grasps an end of the sash. "To hold my Captain's life in my hands."_

_To anyone else, that statement would make no sense. Mihawk only chuckles quietly._

* * *

"What about you, Zoro-bro?"

"Just felt like it."

Luffy gives Zoro that 'shishishi' laugh, and Zoro can't help but grin back. He never told Luffy about the color red; they never got around to it. But honestly, it didn't matter. Zoro could almost swear his Captain already knew. After all, that red shirt of his was almost too perfect for their arrival in the New World.

Luffy isn't his soulmate; but as Luffy himself once said, who had time for that. He may not be able to see everything, but Zoro will follow that blazing red back to the ends of the earth.

* * *

**Note: I should probably clarify. Zoro considers Kuina his rival, and he says he doesn't have time for soulmates, and you're probably thinking, "but where's the love, man?" But that wasn't the relationship between them, I don't think. They were, first and foremost, rivals. Even though Kuina was the most important person to Zoro, it wasn't based in a way where you sit down and spend time with your soulmate and go on dates and stuff. And now that he's older, he no longer grieves over Kuina, getting bogged down by the death of his soulmate. Because his promise to be the World's Greatest Swordsman essentially makes up his relationship with his soulmate. Which is rather tragic, but it's ok, because Zoro is strong enough for that. Hope that made sense.**


End file.
